Brent Mason: Smokin’ Good
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One of the most recorded guitar players in history, with 16 Country Music Awards, Brent Mason has recently released his own album Smokin’ Section. This is Brent’s second album and he is joined by his brother, Randy.
Brent’s unique style is unmistakable in the tracks that range in style from country to blues to jazz.
I just came back from a place in New York, Irridium where Les Paul plays.
Last time I was there I sat in with Les. That was one of the best times I’ve had.
Brent on wine?
I love wine. But, my wife is the expert on wine. We ate recently at the River Café in New York. We had a great Pinot Noir.
I’m a Pinot Noir guy. One of my favorites is 2005 Orogeny Pinot Noir.
We spoke to celebrated guitar player Brent Mason about his inspirations, his unique style and his upcoming CD, Smokin’ Section.
Brent is described by many as the first call for guitar in Nashville. He also talked about his love of jazz.
You’ve done a lot of work as a session musician, why did you decide to make a record now?
Well I did a record in an album in the mid nineties, with Mercury records in Nashville – an instrumental album, it was entitled “Hotwired”. I decided I didn’t need to make that kind of record on a major label, so this one was done totally on my own. I wanted to use acoustic things like a jazz upright base.
I’m a session player so, recording is high-tech, Pro-Tools, mixed and compressed. I thought I would go low-tech. In other words, cut an album that was pretty simple—music that’s not tampered with too much, just a natural sound.
We talked to Brittany Allyn about the rather arbitrary, perhaps limiting distinction between the different genres.
Yeah, that’s really important, I think the same way. When you sign with a major record label, all of a sudden you are categorized, or pigeon-holed, into one thing. It’s not about the creation anymore, or what came straight from your heart. That may go from country to jazz, but it has a common thread with me as an artist.
What is the common thread?
Well, it’s just my style. My style has country in it. It has a lot of R&B and a lot of jazz. I love jazz.
Everybody says, ‘there’s a lot of things on his album, but it has a common thread, it’s him.’
I play a thumb pick and finger style. You’re from Toronto, there is a great guitarist Lenny Breau. Are you familiar with Lenny?
No. I’m not familiar with him.
You need to be. Lenny’s one of the best guitar players who ever lived.
So when you are talking about your style how much is what’s in the room?
Exactly. (Instead of) the modern technology of recording, computerized recording. Everyone can record on the computer with ProTools. Anyone can send audio files across the world. You can drop your tracks in, send it back and plug them in the computer.
There is also the ability to take singers that can’t really sing and tune them up. I’m sure you can hear that in a modern day recording where vocals are so precise and perfect. It’s all moved around to a mathematical perfection. That’s what a recording is now.
And all the genuine voice is lost.
Yes. You don’t hear that as much in jazz because jazz relies totally on spontaneity. When you are playing jazz with acoustic instruments, an upright bass, a guitar and a saxophone, it’s good to have a very natural sound. You give it room to breathe.
I always like music live in clubs because you can hear the action around the music, the activity. You can hear the whole room.
When you first moved to Tennessee you met Chet Atkins, how important is it to find a mentor like that?
Chet Atkins is known for helping out young musicians. That’s the story about Chet. He would find a great guitar player and help him out.
Chet caught wind of me playing at this club in Nashville, called the Stage Coach Lounge, kind of a honky-tonk country music club. I was pretty glad that I didn’t know he was there, otherwise I would’ve been so nervous. I was only about twenty years old.
About that time, he was making an album called “Stay Tuned” – it won a Grammy in 1985. It had George Benson on it, Earl Klugh, Steve Lukather.
Chet had called me at home and asked me if I’d want to play on a track with him and Mark Knopfler from Dire Straits. And, of course I was just flabbergasted.
He said, “Check your book, see if you have it free.”
I looked at my book and I tried to act real cool about it. I said, “yeah, I think I could do it.”
It had a bunch of famous guitar players and me. So that was my big break.
So what advice do you, now, give young musicians starting out?
I tell them the best thing to do is hang out at the little venues or clubs where songwriters are performing their songs. There is Bluebird Cafe down on Broadway in Nashville. They have a string of clubs where musicians just come and sit in; that’s the best place to be heard.
Songwriters might say “Hey you sound wonderful. I’m throwing a demo together next week, and I’d like you to play on them.”
Then it get’s pitched to an artist, let’s say George Strait. “Who’s playing guitar on that demo? We gotta have him. What’s his number?” It’s not an overnight success.
I remember taking those phonograph albums...back and forth until I had dug holes in the vinyl
Speaking of success, you’ve had plenty of awards. How do you know when you’ve been really successful with your new album?
If it got some critical acclaim and people really enjoyed it. If I was able to go out and entertain on that note. And, I actually got to play the music that I like to play.
Being a studio musician you have to be a chameleon. So, many times it gets a little confusing about who I am. This album was composed by me. You’re playing music from your heart and it’s accepted and you’re gaining fans from it. That’s very fulfilling to me.
And is there a key musical reference that inspired you?
My parents both play music; my brother plays music. I remember my brother Randy playing Buddy Rich drum solos downstairs and waking me up in the morning.
My father was also a finger style player and he’d listen to Chet Atkins a lot and before Chet there was a guy named Merle Travis – a finger-style player. He played western swing style—Ernest Tubb and the Troubadours. There’s also Bob Wills from the Playboys.
Basically, it was jazz but it came from more of a Texas-Western swing. A big band, which consisted of a twin fiddle and great guitar players like Eldon Shamblin, and Merle Haggard. A country singer, but he had a lot of great jazz musicians behind him. One being Roy Nichols – who was one of the guys I listened to when I grew up.
Then I started listening to Jerry Reed, who was more mainstream. He played polyphonic style—baselines and melody lines all together. He sounded like a one man band, almost like a piano player playing.
I remember when I was a kid—about seven—I said, ‘is he doing that at the same time? On the guitar?’
And my dad would say ‘yes, that’s one guy’.
I remember taking those phonograph albums and putting the arm of the record player back and forth until I had dug holes in the vinyl. Phonetically learn those licks.
Later, in my teens, I listened to Stevie Wonder, George Benson. I started listening to Pat Martino, who I fell in love with. I went through a rock phase where I was listening to Jeff Beck.
Who should we talk to next?
I have a great one. There is a great record that just came out – done in the Django Reinhardt Style. John Jorgenson—he has an album that just blew me totally away. The album is truly amazing.
